PANAJI
In a bid to revive the Sanjivani Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Limited (SSSK) -- the State’s lone sugar factory located at Dharbandora which is been shut since 2019 -- the State government has proposed redevelopment of the sugar factory at a cost of Rs 130 crore under the public private partnership (PPP) model.
The government has invited Request for Proposal (RFP) bids to modernize the sugar factory with a new crushing capacity of not less than 3,500 tons of cane per day (TCD) and establish an ethanol distillery of at least 75 KLPD, along with an ENA bottling plant and a petrol pump. The RFQ was floated after undertaking a fresh feasibility study to align the industry with global markets by exploring new high-value sugar types.
“The Directorate of Agriculture intends to undertake the re-development of the existing SSKL plant for a sugarcane crushing capacity of not less than 3,500 TCD along with the setting up of a bottling plant and an Ethanol production plant of capacity not less than 75 KLPD through Public Private Partnership (on Design, Finance, Build, Operate and Transfer basis, and, therefore intends to short-list suitable Bidders for awarding the Project through a transparent competitive bidding process,” the RFP stated.
The total land area available for development is approximately 2,40,000 sq metres. The last date for submission of bids in online mode is January 6, 2026, while in physical mode it should be latest by January 8.
As per RFP, at present, sugarcane is cultivated in about 550 Ha, producing about 60,000 tons of sugarcane per year in Goa. In addition, the SSSKL had been sourcing sugarcane from nearby areas in the neighboring States, before it was shut down from 2019-20 crushing season.
Previous attempts to revive the factory through private investors failed miserably. While in 2022, the two bidders, who opted for the Request for Qualification bid, failed to qualify, in 2024, not a single bidder showed interest.
The ailing SSSK -- Goa’s lone sugar factory -- closure has significantly impacted more than 700 sugarcane farmers in the State, who for the past three to four years relied on the hope to see its revival, before a large number of them shifted to cultivation of other crops and are either no longer growing sugarcane or the production is much below what it was in the past.
